Urban Lendahl

Born in Stockholm in 1957, Urban Lendahl studied biology at Stockholm University from 1978-1982, specializing in molecular biology. After earning his PhD at the Karolinska Institute in 1987 (with Professor Lars Wieslander as advisor), Lendahl was a postdoctoral fellow at MIT 1987-1989 with Professor Ron McKay as mentor. After returning to the Karolinska Institute, Lendahl became Professor of Genetics in 1997. Lendahl is a member of the Nobel Assembly for Physiology or Medicine since 2001, and was during 2012 Chairman of the Nobel Committee for Physiology or Medicine. Lendahl’s research is focused on developmental biology, stem cells and intracellular signaling pathways, notably the Notch signaling pathway.

Lendahl has served as head of the review committee at the Human Frontiers Science Foundation, and serves at evaluation committees at the Swedish Research Council and the Swedish Cancer Society. Lendahl is currently director of three research centers in stem cell research and regenerative medicine: DBRM (www.dbrm.se), StratRegen and WIRM (the Wallenberg Institute for Regenerative Medicine). Lendahl holds since 2010 a Distinguished Professor Award at the Karolinska Institute, is Editor-in-Chief for the journal Experimental Cell Research and is a Member of the Board of Trustees for the Koerber European Science Award.